Courtesy of Merriam-Webster online dictionary you will discover that a cobbler is:
1 : a mender or maker of shoes and often of other leather goods
2 archaic : a clumsy workman
3 : a tall iced drink consisting usually of wine, rum, or whiskey and sugar garnished with mint or a slice of lemon or orange
4 : a deep-dish fruit dessert with a thick top crust
These are the only definitions offered by this trusted online source. I also perused well over half a dozen other online dictionaries and no matter where I looked, cobblers are either folks who work with leather to produce footwear, sweet drinks, desserts or are seriously maladroit.
However, the other day in English class, where Becky and her school mates were reading Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue (http://bau2.uibk.ac.at/sg/poe/works/murders.html), a visiting student teacher had other ideas. In this story a cobbler is mentioned only in passing, when the protagonists are discussing the apparent prescience of one of them. However, the student teacher pounced upon what he viewed as an unfamiliar word and asked the class what a cobbler did. When no one rushed to answer, he called on Beck, who tends to know such things because she reads anything and everything from trashy teen romances to The Three Musketeers in its original language (just for the fun of it). Of course, she answered that a cobbler is a shoemaker, as that is the commonly accepted definition.
The pedagogue was incredulous and suggested that she think of peach cobbler, as that would give her a clue as to the correct answer.
She was totally bumfuzzled and admitted it. Shocked at her ignorance he then gave her his chosen definition of a cobbler. According to this college-educated-educator a cobbler is a man who puts down cobblestones in the streets.
Hmm, maybe, could be, possibly so, but ol' Merriam-Webster doesn't seem to agree.
Guess I will have to find a better dictionary. Or perhaps a more widely read teacher. Anyone can make mistakes, but to ridicule a student for giving a correct answer like that is plumb egregious and I don't mind saying so. Maybe he needs to read some romance novels or something.
I also wonder what the heck peach cobbler has to do with paving the streets, unless of course, you are Hansel or Gretel.
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3 comments:
I read this with furrowed brow and bated breath, waiting to discover this new definition of a familiar word. When I read the "teacher's" answer, I yelled out loud. (Never mind what I yelled.) Of course, my first reaction was that Becky should confront, and publicly humiliate this "educator". Sadly, I soon realized that it would be just another battle of wits with an unarmed person.
I love your last line!
If you will send me (by private e-mail, if you'd like) this "teacher's" name, and/or the class, I would like to send your blog (printed)to the school. I believe it's more worthwhile to study this than Poe!
Fred ya have to love it. When the student is more educated then the teacher.
I,am home from work with eleven days off. WOW!!!!!
Love ya
litl. Bro.
I was feeling dumb until your last line. I just could NOT see the connection between peach cobbler and someone who puts down cobblestones. I feel better now.
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